


Gratitude

by Davechicken



Series: Kylux - Fluff & Angst [103]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-06
Updated: 2016-12-06
Packaged: 2018-09-07 00:05:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8775205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Davechicken/pseuds/Davechicken
Summary: Five times they don't say thank you...





	

When Kylo tells Hux about the trooper who is planning on raiding the armoury and going rogue, Hux blurts out that he’ll deal with it. He sees it - first and foremost - as a personal criticism in his training technique.

It’s only later that he realises his barked words were ungrateful of the effort Ren put in bringing him that number.

When Hux finds something about the Sith in the records and passes it on, Kylo is too busy second-guessing his motivation, or looking for the insult, to see the tiny light of hope he dims on the other’s face.

If he did see it, he doesn’t say anything.

When Kylo finds Hux on the bridge for the second and a half consecutive shift and shouts at him until he leaves, Hux is too sleep-deprived to do anything but throw every insult he knows right back at him.

He _does_ know it’s kind. He _still_ can’t acknowledge it. And he _is_ grumpy all the way to his bed.

When Hux realises a certain day is something Kylo hates (without ever knowing why), he makes sure he’s not alone for too long. He finds him, after shift, and vaguely insinuates that drinks could be a thing.

Kylo snorts that he’s not to remove his mask. Hux isn’t offended. Much.

When Kylo holds his tongue in front of the Leader, refusing to throw Hux under the speederbike, his emotional reasoning is hidden behind that mask he won’t take off, not ever. 

Hux knows not to say anything. It’s treason, and they’d both be killed, or worse.

But when Hux is curled around, trying to press his shaking hands to a wound that might not heal, he looks up and sees the Knight has come for him. Once, he would have thought it was to kill him. Now, he knows better.

“You were the one who leaked the message to me,” Kylo says, as he stoops and plucks the man from the floor.  


“Someone had to.”  


He saved Kylo, and now Kylo is returning the favour. He didn’t need to. He could have left Hux to die, here, and maybe he _should_ have. He is a Dark Side Force-user, after all. Things like mercy and reciprocity aren’t in his playbook.

Hux had taken a chance, and Kylo had been worth it. He smiles, and the look that passes between them says everything.

Kylo tells him _hold on_ , and he takes Hux far away. They never speak of it again, but they don’t need to, either.


End file.
